BILLS BILLS BILLS – The rubber hits the road this week as both Republicans and Democrats scramble to win over a public that has had enough of pain at the pump.

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UNFINISHED BUSINESS – House Republicans are planning to pass legislation (H.R. 1229) this week that would give the Interior Department no more than 60 days to review offshore drilling permits.

A second measure (H.R. 1231) – which would open waters off California, Alaska and much of the Atlantic Coast to drilling – goes before the Rules Committee tomorrow at 5 p.m., and any amendments are due to Rules at 10 a.m. tomorrow. That bill is also scheduled for a vote this week and will almost certainly pass.

CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF – Senate Democrats say this week is the week to bring long-awaited legislation to the floor that would eliminate billions in tax perks for the world’s five largest oil and gas companies. Democrats were divided late last week over whether the resulting revenue should be used to boost efficiency measures or to reduce the deficit, and Senate leadership appears to be favoring the latter in order to challenge potential Republican “no”-voters to prove their fiscal conservatism. Whatever form the final bill takes, it will have to wait until at least next week for a vote, leadership sources tell POLITICO.

LET’S GET PRESIDENTIAL – The mating dance has begun as top Republican presidential candidates try to snare seasoned energy exports for their campaign. Mitt Romney is off to a strong start, rubbing elbows with Mike Leavitt – a former Utah governor who led the EPA during the Bush administration – and seeking counsel from Jeff Holmstead, a fellow Mormon and former top Bush EPA air pollution chief who now works on K Street with Bracewell & Giuliani.

Other big-name GOP operators are still playing hard-to-get, especially with so many potential candidates still keeping coy about whether they’ll enter the race. And the picture is further clouded by the failure-to-launch of Haley Barbour, a former energy lobbyist who boasted a potent Rolodex before deciding 2012 would not be his year. Samuelsohn has more on the delicate dance – including TPaw’s insider acquisitions – for Pros: http://politico.pro/k9my8R

HAPPY[ISH] MONDAY and welcome to Morning Energy, where your host highly recommends that Hill staffers rest their legs today, as they’ll need all the juice they can get for a full week of votes, hearings and kicking their way to the top. With questions on what it’s like to work three feet from one’s own bed – as well as to share your best inside scoop on the week ahead – email preis@politico.com.

SWAMPED – Florida greens are telling Obama that jump-starting a flagging Everglades restoration initiative could be his ticket to victory in the swing state’s 2012 election. At the very least, the activists say, it could help Obama avoid the friction with some Florida greens that may have helped doom Al Gore's presidential hopes 11 years ago. Energy Deputy Editor Bob King has more for Pros: http://politico.pro/ke61Yl

APPEALS COURT TO HEAR TWO ENVIRO CASES – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit will hear two oral arguments this week on lawsuits challenging EPA policies. Round one kicks off this morning at 9:30, in Lake Carriers’ Association v. EPA, where industry groups are challenging the agency’s efforts to regulate pollution discharges from ships. Thursday at 9:30 a.m., the court will hear arguments in Natural Resources Defense Council v. EPA, where the environmental group is challenging EPA’s policies on fees imposed on polluters in areas that violate federal ozone standards.

SAFETY WOES – The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is falling down on the job because it is too closely tied to the industry it is charged with regulating, critics told The New York Times for Sunday’s front-page story: http://nyti.ms/jUoIJE

HEADING NORTH – Hillary Clinton and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar are slated to travel to Nuuk, Greenland, on Thursday for a meeting of the Arctic Council, a group of 8 northern states dedicated to finding common ground on the Arctic. Energy-hungry nations are looking at the extreme north with renewed interest, as melting sea ice opens access to new oil and gas deposits. Former Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen and Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg preview the Arctic conference at 4:30 p.m. today at a forum hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 1800 K St. NW, B1 Conference Center.

HOLDING STEADY – Oil futures traded near $99 per barrel in the early morning hours, up more than $1.50 from Friday’s close but way below their peak of $114.83 a week ago today.

NO THANKS, PROFESSOR – Darrell Issa takes on Steven Chu over the membership of DOE’s fracking oversight panel: “I am struck by the number of members who have worked as political appointees in Democratic administrations and have close ties to environmental groups that would appear to indicate prejudices against hydraulic fracturing.” Issa says in a letter to be sent to Chu today. Pros learned of Issa’s first volley at DOE on Friday: http://politico.pro/jZbfdR

THE DAY’S AGENDA

Today is the EPA’s deadline for Chesapeake Energy Corp. to fork over data regarding its April 19 fracking accident in Pennsylvania.

11 a.m. – The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, American Petroleum Institute and Americans for Tax Reform unite to oppose White House and Senate Democrats in their bid to eliminate certain tax incentives for the oil and gas industry. National Press Club.

11 a.m. – Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune, along with top brass from the Union of Concerned Scientists, Environment America and Republicans for Environmental Protection hold a teleconference on how to address high gas prices and dependence on foreign oil. To tune in: 800 860 2422 and ask for “fuel costs.”

1 p.m. – Your morning host gets out of bed and heads to see if any Honey Nut Cheerios survived his 5 a.m. cereal binge. Finding none, he decides it’s time for a nap. Undisclosed location.

ON THE HILL THIS WEEK

TUESDAY – The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee meets for a hearing on new technologies to extract oil and natural gas, including chemical injections, directional drilling and other technologies intended to produce fossil fuels from aging fields. The panel is made up of engineers and field experts, and a committee spokesman tells ME the hearing will be long on science and short on politics. Dirksen 366 at 10 a.m.

WEDNESDAY – EPA Research and Development Administrator Paul Anastas testifies at a House Science Committee hearing on fracking, but he’ll have to wait his turn: Republicans have scheduled the administration witness on the second panel – a practice that has rankled Democrats on other committees. An EPA spokesman confirms the placement was not the agency’s request. Rayburn 2318 at 10 a.m.

WEDNESDAY – For the second week running, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee takes aim at EPA’s new restrictions on mountaintop removal coal mining. Nancy Stoner, EPA’s acting water chief, will testify to a hostile crowd of Republicans, and she’ll take flak from at least one Democrat: ranking member Nick Rahall of West Virginia, one of the Obama administration’s loudest critics on mountaintop removal mining. Rayburn 2167 at 10:30 a.m.

WEDNESDAY – A Senate Energy and Natural Resources subpanel reviews 21 separate bills, including one paving the way for a natural gas pipeline through Alaska’s Denali National Park. Dirksen 366 at 2:30 p.m.

THURSDAY – Senate ENR is back in action to review two bills promoting carbon capture and storage technology for coal plants. S. 699 would authorize $10 million annually for the Department of Energy to spend in support of commercial-scale CCS demonstration projects. S. 757 offers a prize to firms that develop technology to pluck CO2 straight from the atmosphere. Both bills have bipartisan support and count Sens. Jeff Bingaman and John Barrasso as co-sponsors. Dirksen 366 at 9:30 a.m.

THURSDAY – Lisa Murkowski and Mary Landrieu attend a luncheon at the National Women’s Leadership Summit following a National Women’s Leadership Summit on energy and environmental issues. The panel starts at 9:30 a.m. in Dirksen 106.

THURSDAY – A House Natural Resources panel meets to review three bills to boost hydropower, including a measure that would make power from the Hoover Dam more widely available. Longworth 1334 at 10 a.m.

THURSDAY – A Senate Environment and Public Works panel meets to discuss federal efforts to reduce diesel emissions. Dirksen 406 at 2:30 p.m.

FRIDAY – The House Energy and Commerce Committee meets to review legislation that would streamline Clean Air Act permitting for offshore drilling operations. Rayburn 2322 at 9 a.m.

FRIDAY – The House Natural Resources Committee questions Interior Department officials on “roadblocks” to wind and solar development on federal lands and waters. The topic is a favorite for Republicans, and they often use it to paint environmentalists – who have sued to stop some projects over concerns about their impacts on wildlife – as anti-energy of all kinds. Longworth 1324 at 10 a.m.

FRIDAY – A pair of House Science subpanels meet for a hearing on nuclear energy risk management. Brian Sheron, the director of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s research office, is scheduled to testify. Rayburn 2318 at 10 a.m.

TUESDAY – White House CEQ Chairwoman Nancy Sutley heads to the U.S. Green Building Council’s Government Summit 2011. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus is also on hand, as is Bruce Oreck, the U.S. Ambassador to Finland. For more: http://bit.ly/nmfk5

WEDNESDAY – Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley is in town for Day Two of the U.S. GB summit. EPA smart-growth official Kevin Nelson is on hand alongside Arthur H. Rosenfeld, a distinguished scientist emeritus at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.

WEDNESDAY – ConocoPhillips hosts its annual stockholders meeting at 10 a.m. in Houston, followed by a question and answer session with CEO Jim Mulva.

THURSDAY – EPA’s Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee hosts a teleconference to review draft air pollution reports. Two of ME’s favorite pollutants, NOx and SOx, take center stage. The call is at 9 a.m.

ON THE INTERWEBS

WSJ– U.S. officials in recent years warned their Japanese counterparts that they needed to do more to protect their nuclear power facilities from terrorist attacks, but the warnings were repeatedly rejected, according to WikiLeaks documents released over the weekend: http://on.wsj.com/lgMmrD

WSJ– Roll-up solar panels helped U.S. Marines to carry less weight, fewer batteries and more bullets during a three-week patrol of southern Afghanistan. The Corps is hoping to halve per-marine fuel use by 2025: http://on.wsj.com/jb0WG7

NYT – The Fukushima Daiichi crisis has not scared Japan away from nuclear power, Prime Minister Naoto Kan told the nation Sunday, attempting to head off speculation that his government might close more nuclear plants after temporarily shuttering one last week because of safety concerns: http://nyti.ms/mie8Tz

AP – China is winning the future when it comes to renewable energy, according to a World Wildlife Fund report. China’s green-tech production is climbing 77 percent annually, while the U.S. clean energy firms are growing at a rate of 28 percent annually, according to the report: http://nyti.ms/kXr7OS

THAT’S ALL FOR ME – Your host thanks you for reading and wants to wish Kobe Bryant a happy first day of early vacation.

** A message from America’s Natural Gas Alliance: One solution for more abundant domestic energy is staring us in the face. Natural gas is the natural choice—now and in the future. We know we need to use cleaner, American energy. And, we have it. Today, the U.S. has more natural gas than Saudi Arabia has oil, giving us generations of this clean, domestic energy source. Natural gas supports 2.8 million American jobs, most states are now home to more than 10,000 natural gas jobs. As Congress and the Administration look for ways toward a cleaner tomorrow, the answer is right here: natural gas. Learn more at www.anga.us. And, follow us on Twitter @angaus. **

CORRECTION: An earlier version of Morning Energy incorrectly stated what time the forum hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies starts.